Preparation for Future Learning in Physics: The Importance of Overlap in Prior Knowledge

Abstract

Content areas, which form both school subjects and academic disciplines, are based on a broad body of intertwined knowledge that emerges from long-term learning activities. The acquisition of expertise in such areas results from a time-consuming process of chunking pieces of knowledge into broader abstract units, and from expanding and restructuring existing concepts. Being able to build on prior knowledge is seen as an utmost important precondition for future learning in all areas, among them in the STEM fields. In areas such as physics and mathematics, learners need to go through various steps of restructuring in order to acquire scientific concepts, so laying the foundations for this process by providing learning opportunities at an early age is considered essential (Stern, 2005). Based on this claim, we launched a longitudinal study on the potential benefits of implementing inquiry-based physics curricula units in primary school. In this presentation, we discuss the extent to which prior knowledge established in these units is beneficial for future learning (Bransford & Schwartz, 1999) when undergoing new curriculum units that share knowledge with the primary school units. According to Brod (2021), prior knowledge could support future learning if it is activated and relevant for as well as congruent with the new knowledge. Methodology In the Swiss MINT Study, primary school teachers were trained in delivering instruction in four basic teaching units on the Stability of Bridges, Sound, Floating & Sinking, and Air & Atmospheric Pressure. These topics were mainly taught in grades 3-4 and were supposed to support students in acquiring domain-specific content knowledge as well as in applying systematic scientific inquiry and experimentation skills. Pre- and posttest allowed to measure learning progress. To date, 600 classes have participated in these topics. The Swiss MINT study allowed to set up within-classroom quasi-experimental intervention designs in secondary school, when classes were newly composed of students who did (intervention group) and who did not (control group) receive early physics instruction with the basic units. Independent intervention studies were set up, with three of them discussed here. In the Proportionality Study (n = 566, M_age = 11.24 years) we wanted to find out whether students of the intervention group had an advantage when proportionality was taught on the example of density, a concept that played a major role in the unit on Floating & Sinking. In addition, we compared the effects of the density example with the often-used example of speed for explaining proportionality. In the Hydrostatic Pressure Study (n = 1375, M_age = 13.64 years), students learned about the forces acting on objects immersed in liquids. There was overlapping knowledge with the units on Floating & Sinking and Air and Atmospheric pressure, which addressed such kind of knowledge in a more basic manner. However, to allow a fair design, the unit on hydrostatic pressure did not necessarily presuppose this knowledge, although it was supposed to be helpful. In the Magnetism Study (n = 1840, M_age = 12.12 years), the contents did not build upon the contents that students had acquired within the basic units, but there was an overlap in knowledge about scientific inquiry and experimentation, such as the control-of-variables strategy. A previous study (Schalk et al., 2019) revealed an effect of the basic curricula on experimentation skills. Results and discussion The Proportionality Study revealed that learning in the example of speed was more beneficial (d = 0.29) than in the example of density. This result was contrary to our expectations but likely pointed towards the benefit of a second instruction context to make prior knowledge in physics transferable to the target context in mathematics. The Hydrostatic Pressure Study revealed a clear impact of early physics education, as the intervention group outperformed the control group by d = 0.26. A multilevel regression analysis with the posttests of the four teaching units in elementary school as predictors for learning outcomes in hydrostatic pressure only revealed an impact of the tests on Floating & Sinking and on Air and Atmospheric pressure. Achievement in the tests on Stability of Bridges and on Sound did not account for additional variance, as there was no overlap in knowledge. In the Magnetism Study, the intervention group outperformed the control group with d = 0.22. Although the goal of the Swiss MINT study was to deliver all four teaching units to all participants of the intervention group, for different reasons this could not always be realized. We took advantage of this disadvantage by determining a dosage score for each participant (the number of units they underwent), and this score showed a positive impact on learning outcomes. The more opportunities students got to acquire knowledge about scientific inquiry and experimentation, the better they could apply it to a new topic. Theoretical and educational significance To sum up, primary school children who underwent physics curricula acquired knowledge that they could use for future learning if there was an overlap in relevant and congruent knowledge. This collection of studies represents a first large-scale evaluation of the idea of preparation for future learning across different levels of schooling. Future research should focus on increasing the impact, for instance by supporting students in activating their knowledge, and on exploring factors that explain variation in effects across teachers and their classrooms. References Bransford, J. D., & Schwartz, D. L. (1999). Chapter 3: Rethinking transfer: A simple proposal with multiple implications. Review of Research in Education, 24(1), 61-100. Brod, G. (2021). Toward an understanding of when prior knowledge helps or hinders learning. npj Science of Learning, 6(1), 1-3. Schalk, L., Edelsbrunner, P., Deiglmayr, A., Schumacher, R., Stern, E. (2019). Improved Application of the Control-of-Variables Strategy as a Collateral Benefit of Inquiry-Based Physics Education in Elementary School. Learning and Instruction, 59, 34-45. Stern, E. (2005). Knowledge restructuring as a powerful mechanism of cognitive development: How to lay an early foundation for conceptual understanding in formal domains. In P. D. Tomlinson, J. Dockrell & P. Winne (Eds.), Pedagogy – teaching for learning (pp. 153–169). Leicester: British Psychological Society.